Building a winner

Building a stadium, is an operation
second only to preparing for war, says Professor Lawrence Nield, the man
who built, what head of the Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch hailed
as 'the world's greatest Olympic stadium ever'.

By Laila Nasry

An estimated five billion people the world over, watched in breathless
anticipation as Australian athlete Cathy Freeman, carrying the Olympic
torch aloft, was being raised to ignite the cauldron to signal the start
of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. But at that moment, one man sitting in the
stands thought he would pass out. For Cathy's ascent seemed to have stopped
midway and he knew the pause was definitely not for effect. His wife sensing
him start, asked worriedly, "What's happening Lawrence? What's going
on?"

It
was a moment the world never noticed. But for architect Professor Lawrence
Nield- who was in Sri Lanka last week to attend the annual sessions of
the Institute of Architects - that fraction of a second seemed like a lifetime.
Within seconds however, Cathy was lighting the Olympic flame and the stadium
was reverberating to the thunderous applause. Awe and excitement were written
all over the faces of his audience. For Prof. Nield, the feeling was one
of profound relief.

"A television station was setting up their equipment and one of
the cables had come loose and the mechanism had to be worked manually,"
he explained recalling that agonising moment. However such moments are
few for Professor Nield, the man who built, what head of the Olympic Committee,
Juan Antonio Samaranch hailed as 'the world's greatest Olympic stadium
ever'.

Building a stadium, he says, is an operation second only to preparing
for war. For it's not just about building a stadium, but an entirely new
city. Twenty designers in all, from the firm Bligh Voller Nield prepared
a brief for six long months. "We wanted the language of the new city
to speak of dynamism. Something that would excite the people and get them
wanting to come into the stadium." They were one of the six contenders
vying for a place in history.

There was no conflict of interest despite the fact that Professor Nield
had already been deployed as an advisor to the Aussie Government for the
Olympic site and later headed the Olympic Co-ordinating Authority for the
site's masterplan. "It's like a lottery," Professor Nield says
of the bid. "The pitching was competitive, the wait nail-biting and
the victory of landing it, sweet. The briefs were narrowed down from six
to four to two and then one-us."

The
drawing of the plan and the construction was done concurrently. "There
was no time to change our minds, which was good," Professor Nield
says, smiling.

However, the design challenge stemmed from understanding the Olympic
tradition. "We visited a lot of stadiums and studied past Olympic
briefs."

The International Olympic Committee gave very strict specifications
when it came to drawing up a design plan. "They've been going on for
more than 100 years and they know pretty much what they want. The geometry
of the sidelines, the place for shot putters, seating for 80,000 people,
a separate enclosure for the journalists etc." The budget was set
at Aus. $ 500,000,000.

Professor Nield and his team went beyond expectations. Their design
was creativity personified with innovations such as increasing the seating
capacity to 110,000. The construction was partly funded by the government,
the rest through membership. "We marketed the additional seats at
a membership fee of Aus. $10,000 each, which could be utilised for the
football games, cricket matches and concerts to be held at the stadium
eventually."

Further the lower seats were built on rails "to enable the spectators
to close-in on the field of play," Professor Nield said.

While
some couldn't provide a roof within the budget, theirs came with one. The
roof was all steel covering a space of 30,000 sq. m., weighing 4,100 tonnes,
with no columns to support it. "They were great big arches, most made
in little towns situated 500 km outside Sydney and transported on the back
of a lorry." The arches were the underlying theme throughout the entire
stadium. The roof was translucent, allowing maximum natural light during
daytime, at the same time providing effective sun and rain protection for
the spectators (except for the temporary seats).

Stadium Australia was very much a 'green' one, designed to ensure environmental
sustainability. The rain water collected on the roof was to be utilised
to water the grass, flush the toilets, etc. Passive ventilation, which
is ventilation without any mechanical devices was integrated into the design
thereby minimising the extent of air-conditioning used.

The complex was a host of white buildings designed to blend with the
Australian weather. "One of the needs of modern sporting is to be
able to put on a show," Prof. Nield explained. Thus a big studio was
designed to maximise the total entertainment experience.

In September 1996, construction began. The site was 760 sprawling hectares
in Homebush Bay, Sydney, 15 km away from the great Pacific Ocean. The original
building, a crumbling abattoir was sacrificed, domestic and industrial
rubbish removed and electric cables moved to make way for the world's most
magnificent sporting arena.

The four-year time factor for construction was never in question. "You
have to finish it. It simply can't run late."

All the same, once again Prof. Nield and his team sprang a surprise
when in March 1999 almost 11/2 years before the deadline, the construction
of the biggest stadium came to an end. "Australia has a skilled building
industry," Prof. Nield says nonchalantly.

Currently he is involved with the 2004 Athens Olympics construction,
a dream come true having always wanted to be involved in designing and
constructing sporting structures. "It's a mix between people, an event
and the best possible way of seeing it." He is also helping Toronto
and Buenos Aires prepare for the 2008 and 2012 Olympics respectively by
contributing his expertise and experience towards preparing their briefs.

Whoever said one has be an Ian Thorpe or a Maurice Greene to make one's
mark in the Olympic world?